Flake ice making machine



Dec., 5, 1949 F. A. RIGBY 2,490,324

FLAKE ICE MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1946 2 She'ets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY Dec. 6, 1949 Filed Feb. 25, 1946 FLAKE F. A. RIGBY ICE MAKING MACHINE 2 Sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR. FLOYD A. RIGBY ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 6, 1949 Floyd A. Rigby, Portland, Oreg.

Application February 25, 1946, Serial No. 649,971

(Cl. (i2- 107) 7 Claims.

This invention relates Ato machines for making flake ice and -can be particularly .adapted for counter merchandising.

The primary object of the invention is to freeze a liquid while running over an inclined surface, after which the same is removed from the surface by a scraper and delivered .into a delivery chute.

A further object of the invention is to provide -a freezing machine that can be adj-usted for making ake ice of various thickness or coarseness.

A fur-ther object of the invention is to provide means for readily interchang'ing the supply of liquid to be frozen to any flavor or type `of mixture.

And a still further object .of the invention is to provide easy access to the .freezing chamber for the cleansing .of the machine.

These and other incidental objectsl will be apparent in the drawings, specifications and claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective front view of a machine for making flake ice.

Figure 2 is a plan sectional View, taken on line 2--2 of Figure 3 looking into lthefreezing lchami ber.

Figure 3 is a side sectional of the assembled machine.

ln the drawings:

My new and improved flakeice making machine consists of a cone shaped freezing unit l mounted within a cabinet '2. This freezing unit consists of a refrigerant jacket 3 adjacent its inner wall 4. 'Ihe refrigerant jacket 3 is insulated by suitable insulating material 5, which is encased within the outer wall 6.of the freezing unit. The inner'refrigerated vwall or surface 4 tapers inwardly from the top edge 'l to the lower or bottom edge 8.

Two or more Scrapers 9 contact the surface 4 and rotate in the direction of the arrows. These Scrapers or blades are mounted to the perpendicular shaft l0, which is journalled within suitable bearings Il and l2. The lower ends of the scrapers 9 are secured to the arms I3, `which in turn are provided with a hub I4, which is secured to the shaft ID by any suitable fastening means, as key I5. The upper ends of the sera-pers are secured to the arms l *vi which form part of the bowl Il which in turn is part of the hub I8 secured to the shaft I0.

The arms I6 are hollow for communicating with the liquid i9 contained Within the bowl l1. This liquid is delivered through the arm I 5 to the discharge point 2li, which follows the Scrapers fr.

3?; 9 in their rotation livering the liquid to be frozen or flaked 0n to he surface 4, which freezes the liquid as it lruns down over the inclined surface being frozen as Yit travels towards the lower part of the freezing unit. This freezing takes vplace rapidly before the next scraper rea-ches the liquid the same will have been flaked or frozen to the surface 4.

The freezing units is supplied by refrigerant from a compressor unit 21 through the expansion valve 22 into the Vlower part of the refrigerant jacket 3. The refrigerant is returned to the refrigerating machine from the point 23 by way of tubing 24. The Ausual automatic control unit 25 is suppiled for controlling the expansion valve 22. The scraper blades 9 are rotated by the vertical shaft lll, which in turn is driven by the pulley 2B, belt 2l, speed reducer 28 and the motor 29.

A vertical thrust 'bearing 30 is provided for supporting the weight of the shaft in and the Scrapers 9. 'Ihis thrust bearing can vbe raised and lowered by Aa yoke 3| `and bell crank 32, which is pivotally mounted at 33 to the bearing ll. lThe bell crank is operated through the rod 34 and the 4adjusting vknob 35, the object of this adjustment is to govern thepressure of the blades 9 against the surface 4. This adjustment is quite important to smooth operation of the machine and can be made easily by the operator of the same.

The liquid to be frozen is contained within a container 36 and an automatic magnetic valve 31 admits the liquid into the bowl I1 when the control switch 38 is operated for starting and operating the motor 29. The switch 38 includes two buttons, the depression of one of which causes vthe closing of the circuit while the depression of 'the other opens the circuit.

In other words unless the Scrapers 9 are revolving no liquid can enter the freezing unit until the motor 29 is brought into operation revolving the rotors.

The electric wire 39 plugs into the valve unit at 49 and can be readily removed. The liquid container 33, including the valve can be removed from the machine whenever desired, the valve assembly can be removed from the container 36 and placed on another container having either the same liquid or a different type of liquid to -be frozen or naked. I do not wish to be limited to a. unit of this kind as the liquid could be piped directly into the machine by ordinary piping, which would also be controlled by a valve hooked up in synchronism with the motor 29.

In order to cleanse the machine an insulated ,liquidfromthe container 36 into the bowl I1 'and the liquid will be discharged through the arms I6 and the outlets 29 over the inclined freezing surface 4. The blades 9 will be revolved by the operating of the motor 29 and the freezing and scraping operation will continue, the scrapers 9 scraping the frozen material from the surface 4 delivering it into the chute 45 from the discharge point 46 and delivering the same by way of the chute 45 into the container 41.

One of the outstanding features of my invention is that due to the sloping or inclining of the freezing surface the liquid has a chance to be completely frosted before it reaches the discharge point of the refrigerating unit. If this surface were not sloping there would always be an overflow of liquid through the discharge that would be mixed with the finished product and would have to be drained oif in some manner, therefore by using an inclined freezing surface I eliminate this diiculty.

I do not wish to be limited to the exact mechanical structure shown, as other mechanical equivalents may be substituted still coming within the l scope of my claims.

What I claim as new is: 1. A flake ice making machine, including a con- Y tainer, a downwardly convergent refrigerating element mounted in the container and presenting a relatively smooth surface, means for delivering refrigerant to such refrigerating element, means adjustable axially of the refrigerating element for delivering the duid to be frozen to the smooth inner surface of the refrigerating element, and Scrapers connected to fluid delivering means and driven in contact with said smooth surface to scrape the frozen layer therefrom.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, wherein the lower end of the refrigerating element is open for the discharge of the scraped frozen material, and wherein a chute is arranged below and having an area commensurate with that of the opening to receive such scraped material and deliver it beyond the container.

3. A construction as defined in claim 1, wherein the material to be frozen is delivered to the surface of the refrigerating element from a tank to a receptacle within the container, and delivery piping for the material from the receptacle to the inner surface of the refrigerating element, the scrapers being supported by the piping.

4. A Iconstruction as defined in claim 1, wherein the rst means are provided for delivering a refrigerant to the lower end and outer surface of the refrigerating element and wherein further means are provided for extracting or removing the refrigerant from the upper and outer end of the refrigerating element.

5. A construction as defined in claim 1, wherein the means for delivering the fluid to be frozen to the refrigerating element, includes a tank having pipe connection with the interior of the container, with such pipe connection and tank freely removable from the container to provide for substitution of tanks of other material.

6. A construction as defined in claim 1, wherein the means for delivering the fluid to be frozen to the refrigerating element, includes a tank having pipe connection with the interior of the container, with such pipe connection and tank freely removable from the container to provide for substitution of tanks of other material, and wherein the pipe is provided with a magnetic valve for lcontrolling the flow, and means for operating the valve.

7. A flake ice making machine, including a container, an inverted conical refrigerating element supported in the container, means for delivering the refrigerant to the outer surface of the refrigerating element, means for delivering the iiuid to be frozen onto the outer surface of vthe refrigerating element, means for scraping the frozen material from the inner surface of the refrigerating element and manually operable means for adjusting the position of the scraping means to vary its scraping contact.

FLOYD A. RIGBY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

